When Did You Fall In Love With Me?
by eshajouri
Summary: Music starts an actual friendship. Little inconsistencies add up and one thing leads to another.


**A/N: **I'm really sorry if there's any error. I'm sleepy and lazy~

**Disclaimer: **No characters are mine, neither is _When Did You Fall_, by Chris Rice.

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><p><strong>When Did You Fall (In Love With Me)?<strong>

Music never really seemed too interesting for Kenny. He kind of listened to whatever was playing or stuff his old man liked, such as classic rock; AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, things that dads usually like. But he never went through the trouble of downloading songs just because he really, _really_ liked it and wanted to listen to it over and over again – it never touched him to that point. He never got it why Stan would spend the day whining because he _so_ wants to go to that concert or how Kyle could just sit down and keep listening to his smart ass erudite Rachmaninoff. Oh, specially how Cartman obsessed over German death metal bands and wanted to breathe the same air as theirs and worship the ground their feet touched. He stopped hanging out at their places so often because they _always _wanted him to like their music. Stan's were always so emo and sad and lovesick he could barely make it through the intro; Kyle's were boring and he got really mad when Kenny slept through those songs/sonatas/whatever (which, by the way, are at least 16 minutes long each) and Cartman—damn, how did he want Kenny to like those groans and screams and... stuff? Yeah, right, awesome drumming, but that's about it – they didn't even sing in German (or any language known to mankind, as a matter of fact), it was like an alien dialect only mentally retarded metal fans would understand, Kenny believed. They kind of saw him as a blank canvas, where they wanted to paint their terrible music on – yeah, that pretty much sums it up; he could even write a song about that. It'd be called "You And Your Awful Bands Should Fuck Off Already Okay".

Kenny found Butters' taste in music to be the most bearable. Of course he liked stupid songs that played on the radio, but he mostly listened to really nice songs, with pianos and chords with a really light atmosphere – which is why he invited himself to hang out at his place one day. He doesn't like staying home for too long (because of reasons everyone in and out of South Park should know), and Butters just lets him in – he was probably the... third best thing Kenny had, after all. At first they didn't have much to talk about, so Butters just put some music on and read – he had just said, _I'll put some music on, okay? I-if you don't like it, feel free to look for somethin' _and they stood there awkwardly without actually talking. As Kenny didn't have anything he wanted to say, he paid attention to the lyrics and they were pretty lovey-dovey or about happiness, but it sounded so nice he almost believed them. The melody was contagious and relaxing and Butters kept this small smile on the corner of his lips that made it all too comfortable. Kenny showed up on his doorstep the next day and said, "That band from yesterday, it was awesome."

That was how they clumsily started an actual friendship. Butters told him all the meanings behind those songs – that _Don't Panic _by Coldplay started playing on the radio when he was scared in a certain day before a certain test, and that his dad and him used to sing _Bohemian Rhapsody_ together when he was younger and how funny it was – and he told Butters his old man played _Sweet Child O' Mine_ to his mom on his beat up guitar when they fought real bad as his way to say sorry; he even played some verses of Pink Floyd's _Wish You Were Here _to Butters when he thought he had forgotten that one special song Kevin taught him years before.

In that strange way, Butters suddenly became the first best thing Kenny had. They shared secrets and Kenny felt bad about how musically oblivious he was – he never had a new song to Butters –, so he basically learned Butters' favorite songs and played them on his dad's old guitar for him. Kenny was terrible to say the least; completely off tempo and awkward with his fingers on the strings, but it couldn't make Butters happier. It wasn't Kenny's fault if Butters liked actual music, you know, well arranged songs that no newbie could easily play.

It soon became a habit that Butters lent Kenny his iPod. Though he didn't agree with Kenny listening to music during classes, Kenny always convinced him that _just English, man. I can't stand English. I swear I'll pay attention to the other classes, it's just— just English. Promise._

Cartman didn't take long to notice those little details; how Butters wasn't on the bus when Kenny didn't have money for the ride, how Kenny was now Ken, how they sat together more often at lunch, Kenny carrying a light blue iPod around, Butters asking where Kenny was now and then, Kenny taking actual notes when Butters was absent. He also didn't take long to start calling them fags and condemning their faggocity all the time, or spreading rumors about Kenny taking Butters to T.G.I.F. (no one remembers Kenny dying, but they do remember him getting his first blowjob). They didn't care, though, since they both were pretty much invisible at school and no one paid as much attention to Cartman as before. Eventually he gave up and kept teasing Kyle.

"You know he's totally gay for you, right," he still commented one day, when he was skipping classes and smoking with Kenny.

"Dude, I thought you got over that."

"No, I'm serious," he gestured nonchalantly; Cartman had matured in some ways, like not getting immediately pissed at people when they didn't get what he meant at first. "You can't be that dumb, Kenny. I mean, right, you're poor, but you're not dumb. Not that much."

"Thanks, I guess," Kenny looked at him, still confused, but Cartman didn't seem interested in continuing the conversation. He'd figure it out by himself, he thought.

Kenny wasn't dumb, that's true. He didn't understand at first what Cartman meant, but he started paying attention. All the smiles, the romantic music, the stuttering, the flinching when their hands touched by accident, the blushing when Kenny jokingly flirted with him; the little inconsistencies slowly added up to one obvious conclusion. And what Kenny felt was beyond stupidity – how didn't he notice, he wondered. All the hints were right there, Butters practically emanated them.

"I have a new song to show you," he said all excited, clicking through his songs.

It started with that soft, soft melody and there were butterflies in his stomach. He started sweating and shifting his weight from one foot to another. He bit his lip and felt self-conscious; the lyrics started and gave him just was what he needed.

Butters looked at him with almost anxious ocean eyes as Kenny got up from his bed and walked towards him from across the room with a nervous complexion, ready to ask if he disliked it that much, but Kenny just stopped the words from coming out. He leaned and pressed their lips together and Butters could hear his heart pounding hard, feel his warm, chapped lips, notice him trying to control his breathing and hear a soft smack when they separated. Their eyes met and their gazes were locked for a few seconds that really felt a lot longer. Both their faces were slightly flushed as though it had been their first kisses, so childish and chaste.

"I, um," Kenny moved a little, put a respectable distance between them. "I finally noticed."

Butters smiled, a little shy, a little too knowing, "Took you long enough."

_You're all smiles and silly conversation  
><em>_As if this sunny day came just for you  
><em>_You twist your hair, you smile, and you turn your eyes away  
><em>_C'mon, tell me what's right with you  
><em>_Now it dawns on me probably everybody's talkin'  
><em>_And there's something here I'm supposed to realize  
><em>'_Cause your secret's out, and the universe laughs at its joke on me  
><em>_I just caught it in your eyes, it's a beautiful surprise_


End file.
